Andeta Kapa
"We are not asking for something that does not belong to us. We just want to know when we will receive the payment and why it is being delayed so much," says KB, a student at the Faculty of Social Sciences and a beneficiary of a social scholarship.
For two academic years, according to her, the scholarship has arrived in her account months late. The payments she expected each month have accumulated, starting to go from the middle of the academic year to its end.
During 2024–25, KB says that part of the amount was not paid at all. She does not remember the exact amount, but says that inquiries to the finance office did not provide a solution.
"Even though we were interested in finances, no one took responsibility and they never gave us that money," says the student.
For KM, another student at the same faculty, the delay in her scholarship has translated into debt. She counts this payment along with the minimum wage to cover daily expenses.
"I had to take out a loan," she says.
"It's not that the scholarship covers all the monthly expenses, but together with the minimum wage money, I manage to cover my expenses, that's all, fun things are out of the question for me," adds KM.
The decision regulating the scholarships provides for monthly payments and deadlines for reviewing applications. The faculty attributes the delays to available funds and confirmation of documentation by municipalities. Its response, however, does not clarify what happened to the installments that students claim they did not receive.
Monthly payment and approval deadlines
According to the Council of Ministers No. 903, dated 21.12.2016, as amended , the scholarship is 10 thousand lek per month and is transferred to the student's bank account after confirmation of attendance at the study program.
The main units of the universities have 15 days from the receipt of the request and documentation to carry out the verifications, in cooperation with the institutions that must confirm them. The Board of Administration must make a decision within 30 days from the submission of the student's request.
When the application is made at the beginning of the academic year, the scholarship is paid from the date of registration. If the student meets the criteria during the year and submits the application, the payment begins from the following month. The Board's decisions are made public and can be appealed.
For education expert, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Ndriçim Mehmeti, the problem lies in the implementation of the right to financial support. According to him, bureaucratic red tape and procedural delays take the scholarship away from its purpose, especially for students who depend on this income.
10 students were interviewed for this article. Among them is BS, a social scholarship recipient, who says that for the 2024–25 academic year he did not receive three monthly payments.
"In the 2024-25 academic year, they did not give us three months of payment that we were entitled to, allegedly the documents were not in order in the first application, while in the second we submitted the same ones. This happened to scholarship students," says BS.
His and the UN's claims of incomplete payments remain unsubstantiated by documents. Student testimonies describe the difficulties they have encountered, but do not indicate how many beneficiaries have been affected across the university.
Faculty blames delays on funds and municipalities
In response to a request for clarification, the Faculty of Social Sciences said that payments were made depending on the funds available at the Tirana Treasury Branch and the monthly limits of the annual plan approved by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance. According to the faculty, the payment time has changed depending on the status of funds in the respective month.
FSHS also explains that, in cases where the respective municipalities have delayed the confirmation of students' documentation, the approval of the scholarship was made late and the payment was made after receiving the relevant confirmation.
The response does not provide dates or amounts for the cases of students complaining about unpaid installments and does not clarify whether subsequent payments have covered all the months they were due.
The funding and approval of the scholarship are passed on to several institutions. According to Law No. 80/2015 on Higher Education , the student support fund is part of the teaching grant, which is distributed by the National Agency for Financing Higher Education. Universities verify applications and decide on beneficiaries according to VKM No. 903.
The involvement of several administrative links, according to Mehmeti, makes it necessary to clearly define responsibilities. BS says that students should be able to see the status of their application, payments made, and the reason for any delays or differences.
The scholarship fund was realized at about 61 percent.
On a national scale, the scholarship fund under the "University Pact" was realized at around 61 percent during 2025. According to the annual monitoring report of the Ministry of Education , out of 1 billion and 293 million lek of the revised fund, 794 million lek were realized.
In the section describing this fund, the report foresees 11,800 to 12,000 beneficiaries according to VKM No. 903, among them students with high results and students from social strata in need. This funding line is presented separately from the excellence support scheme and priority programs according to VKM No. 386.
The difference between the revised fund and the actual is 499 million lekë. The figure is for fiscal year 2025 and includes several categories of students; it cannot be equated with unpaid scholarships for the academic year 2024–25. The summarized data does not indicate how much of the difference is related to late payments or obligations to students.
A known date for payment
In some European Union countries, students know in advance the date on which they will receive their financial support. In Finland, Kela pays the study grant on the first day of the month or the next working day. Each payment is reflected in the income register within five days.
In the Netherlands, DUO publishes monthly payment dates . Through the “Mijn DUO” account, students also see the amount they will receive. The calendar and individual information allow them to plan their expenses and control their payments.
Living allowances are also part of the guidelines on the social dimension of the European Higher Education Area . They recommend funding based primarily on students’ needs, to help with study materials, accommodation, transport and living expenses, as well as clear and up-to-date information for beneficiaries. The guidelines serve as policy guidance; they do not set a legal deadline for payments in Albania.
For KM, the wait has led to the need to borrow. KB says it has not yet received an explanation for the amount it is missing. While the faculty mentions the funds and documentation, the students are left without an individual response indicating which months they have been paid and what is left to receive./ acqj.al
